Public Should Speak Out.

To the Editor of the Herald:

I do not think that the transfer of General Wood ought to be allowed to occur without some expression of public opinion. If it is right that a civilian authority should disparage General Wood's services, it is right that the civilian public should exalt them. I, for one, am convinced that General Wood has done more than any other one man since the great war began to educate the American people to a sober sense of their responsibilities. He is not merely a fine soldier, though that is much. He is a symbol of the new national awakening. He is a wise and public-spirited leader. He has given his profession dignity in the eyes of the American people. He is a hater of cant and complacency. He has the gift of kindling noble enthusiasms in young men. And now, at a time when leadership and strength are at a premium, he is put aside! He has already done a great work which cannot be undone. His country will not forget him. But he is needed now as never before. There is no other man in military life who commands so much confidence and affection. Let him be left where lie is, as a pledge of the President's patriotism and of the nation's high resolve. RALPH BARTON PERRY.   Boston Herald.